Madjiguène Cissé (26 September 1951 – 15 May 2023) was a Senegalese activist who was the spokeswoman of the

undocumented immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

s movement and founder of the Women's Network for Sustainable Development in Africa.

Biography

Cissé was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

. Her parents were illiterate when they moved from the countryside to Dakar. Her ambitious and progressive father learned to read and got his driving license. At his request, Cissé started attending school in 1958. In 1968, she took part in demonstrations. After she obtained the '' Baccalauréat'', she started her German studies. In 1974, she was granted a two-year scholarship to study in Saarbrücken, Germany. Cissé subsequently went back to Dakar and worked as a German teacher in a high school. In 1993, as a mother of three, she stayed in Paris for her daughter's studies. Although she had a legal residence permit, she discovered and joined the undocumented workers movement in March 1996 and became one of its spokespeople. In 2000, she went back to Dakar where she co-founded the Women's Network for Sustainable Development in Africa (french: Réseau des femmes pour le développement durable en Afrique, REFDAF) and became its director. The network aims at improving women's living standards through education, support actions to develop employment, and granting microcredits. Cissé died on 15 May 2023, at the age of 71.

Published works

* ''Parole de sans-papiers'', 1999. * ''Papiere für alle. Die Bewegung der Sans Papiers in Frankreich'', A Verlag, Hamburg, 2002, .

Awards

*1998:

International League for Human Rights The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City. Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human right ...

Carl von Ossietzky Medal The (ILMR) has awarded the Carl von Ossietzky Medal since 1962. The league has honored personalities, initiatives or organizations who have worked with civil courage and outstanding commitment to the realization of human rights annually since 1962 ...

, alongside ''Les Collectifs de sans-papiers'' *2011: Markgräfin-Wilhelmine, Bayreuth city prize

References

External links

*
REFDAF official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisse, Madjiguene 1951 births 2023 deaths Senegalese activists Senegalese women activists Senegalese educators Senegalese women educators Germanists Women linguists 20th-century educators 21st-century educators People from Dakar 20th-century women educators 21st-century women educators